Mr Stewart told RN Breakfast the first he knew of his son being signed up to an accidental death life insurance policy was when the got a letter welcoming him to the company and outlining the policies he'd signed up to.

"He is often very hesitant about making decisions, especially around financial matters … so we found it surprising that we hadn't heard anything," he said.

Mr Stewart's son only knew he had talked to someone on the phone about it, and he felt embarrassed and guilty about signing up.

"He thought it was his fault and so we backed off a bit at that stage and read the material, then contacted the company," Mr Stewart said.

Mr Stewart said his son's disability would have been obvious over the phone.